More on Canada Tar Sands Understanding

13.12.19: More details on what tar sands are and impact on the environment.
David Olive's article in the Toronto Star on Dec 13th, 2013, provides a lot of detail on the fading appeal of shale oil.
1. Most costly oil to produce
2. Requires a high oil price to be viable
3. Alberta shale oil get approx $58 a barrel - well below conventional oil prices
4.Fracking, required to get the heavy oil out of shale, is very expensive and high environment impact
This Wikipedia site outlines how Athabasca oil (Alberta Tar Sands or Alberta Shale oil) is produced either by fracking the deep deposits or surface mining the smaller deposits near the surface.   

This site has important information about the very large tar sands deposits in Alberta.
The really important info at this site is the Reality Check. Take a look.
Three facts that stand out:
1. federal taxpayers subsidize oil industry 1.4B/year.
2. 71% of tar sands production is owned by foreign shareholders 
3. tar sands production emit 3 to 4 times the greenhouse gases of crude oil production

No wonder Harper is not supporting the environment!!!

We must do our best to replace him with someone who supports a much cleaner environment ... someone who the rest of the industrial world respects.
In fact, I am coming to the conclusion ANYONE will be better.

But, we must DEMAND more from our political leaders.
I really haven't been impressed with any significant party leader's environmental position to-date. 


As far as coal is concerned, it may be worse than oil but not as bad as tar sands. BTW, there is no such thing as "clean coal".

Maybe we will see environmental specifics when the next federal elections get into gear. If we don't, we need to make demands!

Bill C-13 - watch out for more on this

13.12.09: Stephen Harper is at it again ... continually trying to increase control over taxpayers.
It never ceases to amaze me what he will try to get away with.

This bill (C-13) was tabled last month by Peter MacKay and continues to get adverse attention.

It is labelled the cyberbullying law (to protect our young people on the Internet) and is in an omnibus format (containing many diverse and unrelated items).
The problem with an omnibus format is it limits apposition analysis ... and taxpayers ability to question the proposed legislation.

Globe & Mail Dec 6th
Ottawa Citizen Dec 6th


As Solomon Friedman points out (in the Ottawa Citizen article above), with this government there is always a 'but'.

Included in this bill are a couple of totally unrelated items that give police unprecedented power to impose on taxpayers at their discretion.
The second may not be a concern to Internet users who don't require confidentiality in their Web usage (including me).
The first item, however, is very scary and would certainly change EVERYTHING if it were allowed!.

I do find this "Myths and Facts" site, owned by MacKay's people, particularly offensive and demeaning to Canadians. 
Does he expect taxpayers will believe his convoluted and vague explanations!

As per Solomon:

1. Currently, for police to obtain search warrants or production orders, they must demonstrate to a judge that they have “reasonable grounds to believe” that an offence has been committed and that the search will reveal evidence of that offence.
This bill would allow "reasonable suspicion" to replace "reasonable grounds". In other words, revealing evident of an offence is no longer a required result.
Can you imagine how our gun shooting (and tazering) police will use this ... and how it would drop the word 'privacy' from our dictionaries? 

2. Internet Service Providers will voluntarily give customer information to police without any criminal or civil liability.
Canadians who sign contracts with ISPs expect that their personal data will be guarded and not shared without their consent
Bill C-13 will serve to break that trust and expose customers to government snooping, all without prber oper notice or judicial authorization.

It is important for taxpayers to voice support for those who object to these types of legislative proposals ... and be prepared for future exploitations of this nature ... and to remember these many bad decisions (and huge waste of taxpayer dollars) at election time.

Iran Situation

11.27.13: In Toronto Star Nov 25th.

Very controversial position taken by Obama.

Iran is in a power struggle with the big 5 and wants to be one of them ... makes me very concerned.
How can you blame them? A number of countries have nuclear bomb capability, including Pakistan.

It may be a poor decision, as it just provides more time for Iran to develop (and hide) bomb grade enriched uranium. They already have over 18,000 facilities for making enriched uranium at close to bomb level.
It also provides money to Iran, as it relaxes the trade restrictions put in place to force agreement.

It may prove to be a good move, if Iran does go along with the stopping of the enrichment pgm (for more than the 6 months agreed to).

In my opinion, Iran will not stop their enrichment pgm under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and without much more stringent trade restrictions. They want to be a main world power and think a nuclear bomb is the way.

Quite a few countries will watch very closely the results of the daily inspections to be done as part of this temporary agreement.

I am waiting to see what happens when Iran finds ways to impact the quality (and bandwidth) of these daily inspections.

What do you think?

Online Home Thermostat Control Mgmt

13.11.19: Did you know you can alter your home thermostat setting from the Internet anywhere in the world?
Particularly useful when taking a trip and about to return home.
When leaving, we usually turn down in winter and turn up in summer. The day before returning, it is nice to make your home more comfortable for your return.

With PowerStream (our hydro provider in Markham), we can go to a website to make changes to our physical home thermostat.  

By going to the PowerStream site and signing in (with either account number or email address).
Then select Energy Management -> Residential in the top menu and then Thermostat online access in the left menu.
Then click on your thermostat number (left menu) and select:

1. Schedule - to create a new schedule that will override the thermostat 
2. Manual - to create a temporary setting (until next thermostat scheduled setting)
3. Saved Schedules - to delete any online schedules you made 

It is important to remember any schedules you make online will always override any set on the actual thermostat.

Be sure to check Saved Schedules and delete any previous online schedules, once you return home.

Check the Hints and Details section (on the Schedule page), if you have questions.

PowerStream customers can call 1-866-323-0206, to find or reset your username and/or password.














Were you aware prices were going up $.05 per kilowatt as of Nov 1st? 
More important every year to be aware of the TOU rates and times.

Hydro Smart Meter

13.11.19: Ontario Hydro Smart Meters

This is in addition to five other related blog items:

1. Online Home Thermostat Control Mgmt. Nov 20132. How does your home compare? April 2013
3. Up-to-the-minute Hydro Usage. Dec 2012
4. Hydro - Time-of-Use Pricing. Oct 2010
5. PowerStream PeakSaver. Jan 2009

Smart meters are now installed in most homes. Have questions?

What is the purpose of a smart meter:

• They support the implementation of time-of-use prices. By time-stamping your consumption data, local distribution companies will be able to determine how much electricity was used during off-peak times and how much was consumed during on-peak periods. This capability allows homeowners to find electricity savings by shifting their electricity use.
• They help LDCs to identify power theft and respond to meter failures and outages more quickly.
• They provide greater operational efficiencies in local distribution system management.

Does this appear to be smoke-and-mirrors to you?
The purpose is not to save us $s but to provide up-to-the-minute household electricity use to the govt. 
Home hardware installations probably caused the Nov 1st price increases...

Always good to check your usage (electricity and water) and compare to others in your area (as outlined in How does your home compare).

Harper's Environmental Influence

13.11.18: In the Toronto Star today.

By Chantal Hébert.

Who would have thought Hour PM's lack of environmental concern would negatively affect Obama's consideration for the Keystone XL pipeline!
I am not allowed to show the link, as the Star indicates I must pay to do that.  

"Would Obama have found it easier to sign off on a pipeline bid that was backed by a Canadian government whose body language was climate-change friendly? "

By Raveena Aulakh.

This article is more emphatic about the lack of climate policy presented by our PM ... in his pursuit of big oil residuals (for retirement).
Sorry, I can't include the link here.

We are now 58 out of 61 countries, failing to take action on climate change. 

"Canada still shows no intention of moving forward with climate policy and therefore remains the worst performer of all industrialized countries."

"Belief in the science behind climate change is common among those who generally support the NDP (76 per cent) and Green party (79 per cent), followed by the Bloc Québécois (70 per cent) and Liberals (69 per cent).

Only 41 per cent Conservative party supporters share that view."

"The survey also breaks down opinions across the country: belief in the science of climate change is most widespread in Quebec at 66 per cent and Atlantic Canada at 65 per cent, followed by Ontario at 61 per cent and B.C. at about 59 per cent. In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, only 52 per cent believe in it, while Alberta is at 47 per cent."

Canada's World Ranking 2013

13.11.01: Even with a Senate, we are 3rd in world ranking in the prestigious Legatum Prosperity Index.

In August, we were visiting (Baltic cruise) the countries that ranked 1st (Norway), 4th (Sweden) and 6th (Denmark) and I am pleased to be in their company.

We ranked first in Personal Freedom, second in Education, and fourth in Economy.

What took us out of 2nd position was probably Health and/or Entrepreneurship & Opportunity.
But not sure about category weightings.

Interesting to see the USA is 11th and United Kingdom is 16th.

Switzerland jumped to 2nd from 9th last year.

Denmark dropped to 6th from 2nd last year. 

Norway has been 1st for the last 5 years.

Not sure how the sub-index scores are weighted, as the sum of the 8 categories doesn't indicate ranking.

The Soviet Story - did you know

13.10.22: A lot of attention has been placed on the Holocaust as the extermination of 6 million jews by the Nazis during WW2.

But did you know the Soviet Union helped Nazi Germany instigate the holocaust and also exterminated approx three times as many people prior to and during WW2 under the direction of Joseph Stalin ... and still not designated as war crimes?

Some of those in charge of the exterminations are alive (and addresses known) today.

This documentary (presented on a Rogers channel 525 a few days ago) "The Soviet Story" is an eye opener and has received favourable reviews from many historians. Thanks to Edvins Snore for putting it together in 2008. 

It clearly identifies the Nazi-Soviet collaboration prior to WW2.

Of course, the current day Russia doesn't speak of it and has not had any pressure to arrest/prosecute those involved.
For economic reasons, apparently, Europe doesn't pursue the matter with Russia.

Time does tend to dull our memories of wars and it is important to document the reasons, resulting actions and outcomes ... in order to avoid war in the future. 

As per the saying "War doesn't determine who is right ... only who is left". 

Rocco Galati - Constitutional Lawyer - A Good Man

13.10.19: An article, in the Toronto Star today (I can't include the link without paying the Star) and October 8th in the National Post, about another Stephen Harper problem.

Galati, on his own, without remuneration, declared unconstitutional the appointment by Harper to place Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Nadon has since stepped aside "for now", even though the move was approved.

Another attempt by Harper to put his people in key positions.

In looking into Galati, I am very pleased to see what he has been doing ... an unpaid auditor general of Canadian constitutional matters ... to support the interests of all of us.

He is heading up a team of lawyers who will work pro bono (a portion of their time) to ensure constitutional accuracy on the part of federal government.

Galati has the tenacity to pursue challenging and thorny issues for some time. 
He also indicated, a few years ago, CSIS was eavesdropping on his emails with clients ... confirmed by Snowden's NSA leak concerning global eavesdropping activities (by USA, Britain, and other countries such as Canada).

Hopefully, Galati is encouraged to continue offering these free and valuable services to Canadians.

Road Biking - a way of life

(left click to enlarge)
13.10.06: As you may know, I have been road biking a long time. 

While well past my peak, I have found it o be a great way to stay healthy (excellent cardiovascular including hypertension reduction) without incurring pain.

Unlike jogging, which I also do occasionally, you can bike right after eating.

King Lui, owner of Giant (the largest bicycle maker), took it up at age 73 and has never looked back. This article is in the NY Times insert in today's Toronto Star.

Govt Approves Oil-Sands Expansion

07.10.13: In the Globe & Mail July 10th.

Alberta has approved oil-sands expansion 70KMs north of Fort McMurray, even though a joint review panel appointed by the federal environment minister indicated significant environmental impact.

Once again, Harper continues to clearly indicate the words environment and global warming are not in his vocabulary.

The  Pembina Institute said Canada’s reputation is being put further at risk as it keeps approving oil-sands projects in the absence of adequate rules for global warming or wetland protection.

It is time for a change at the federal level. Hopefully, for our next federal elections, someone stands up for the environment ... and the majority of voters actually vote for the environment.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell - very slow progress

07.09.13: An article in the Toronto Star indicates hydrogen fuel cell is not forgotten.

In my opinion, it is the only sustainable automobile fuel for the future ... once we figure out a carbon neutral manufacturing process.

Until then, electric seems to be where current development is heading.

As we all are aware, Harper will not focus on the environment and, as a result, there is no alternate fuel long-term strategy for Canada. 

Intelligent and knowledgeable people in Canada must push ahead and ignore the current government.

The fact is we have too much of the worse oil (tar sands) possible and too many entrepreneurs who are encouraged to exploit it.

The concern is we need to stop oil production world-wide immediately to minimize global warming irreplaceable impact to the planet.

This is not going to happen while so much money can be made in the short-term.

Alternate strategies need to be emphasized NOW.

By pushing ahead with hybrid automobiles, we have created a viable alternative fuel market and consumers are getting on board ... increasing the demand for alternate fuels.

GM has a site indicating their progress of hydrogen fuel. However, they are suggesting 2020 before we see any production. I feel this is an attempt to manage the advancement and ensure they (GM and Honda) control progress (similar to introduction of safety razor being much later than it could have been).  


Perhaps, this has driven other automobile manufacturers to get development underway.

Toyota is introducing a hydrogen fuel cell car at the Tokyo Auto Show later in 2013.
Toyota is indicating production in 2015!

There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon ...

Milo's Birthday

13.06.17: Milo's first birthday celebrations on Saturday.
Great weather, food and people! 
Left-click a pic to enlarge.